


The First Flight

by SherlockianBrowncoatSG1



Category: Firefly
Genre: Gen, Post-Serenity, Serenity crew - Freeform, Serenity family, Wash's daughter, Wash's son, Wash/Zoe twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-02-14 15:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2196639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SherlockianBrowncoatSG1/pseuds/SherlockianBrowncoatSG1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The crew of the Serenity nine years after Wash's death. Raising the next crew members up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The First Flight

**Author's Note:**

> Probably a one shot.

Dino sat at the control panel, looking at the various knobs and buttons. He felt his sister's warm breath tickling his ear as she peered over his shoulder.

"Little Albatross, you sure?" Uncle Mal's voice questioned. Dino's stomach twisted yet again.

"Yep, Cap'n! He'll be dancing like a leaf on the wind." Without looking, he felt the shudder go through Ma's spine. Uncle Mal's pacing paused, a sigh escaping his grim mouth. Aunt River looked over from the other console, giving the little nine year old boy a wink.

Dia, or Miranda as her real name was, touched the shoulder of her brother in support. Only his twin knew how fearful he was of taking the yoke. Her voice seemed to whisper over his mind _He's scared. He's worried about his family. Uncle Mal loves you though, Dino. Keep his girl flying and he'll see._

He never knew how it happened. Uncle Jayne always said that this ship had too many loonie moonies walking it's catwalks. Aunt River and the kids would make sure to be especially 'affected' around him when he made his comments. Even she was able to whisper into Dino's brain ear. Uncle Jayne's freaked out looks afterward were always amusing.

He wiped his sweaty palms on the small Earth-that-Was Paradise shirt. He knew that Aunt Inara had used his father's numerous shirts to make it for him, to give him luck. Reaching over, with a trembling finger, he touched the little plastic dinosaur that rested next to the radar. Nine years after the incident, they still gleamed as if his dad still played with them. But it was love, love of a family that deeply missed their guide into the deep black, that keep them gleaming.

A calmness came and centered in his chest. Taking a deep breath, he grasped the two handled yoke in his small hands. With a flick of a finger near the bottom, his captain's chair came closer to the console. Aunt Kaylee's jerry riggin' had worked as always. She kept Uncle Mal's boat running so smooth.

" _eek_!" A muffled exclamation came from the portal. Cousin Bookie was struggling against the arms of Uncle Simon as he apologized to Ma. "So sorry. He got lose. I think River's been teaching my five year old tricks!" A giggle from the other console was answer enough.

With a strength of focus that was rare in even an adult, Dino tuned out his cousin's chatter as his father carted him back to his bunk.  Ma pulled the portal door closed to lessen distractions. Ma walked back to the chair, running her hand over the red spirals cascading down his toasted cheeks. His sister's black hair cascaded over his shoulder has her pale hand pointed at the auto pilot button. "Push it, bugger brain!" 

_Gotta love sister encouragement!_

Lifting the mike hanging near his seat, he clicked the button. "Dino to Aunt Kaylee."

"Go little Dino" crackled her laughing voice in the engine room.

"It's a go. Crew strap in." Uncle Mal's muttered question was silenced when River just pointed at the other chair that was installed in the corner. Ma wrapped her hands around Dino's chair, trapping her little girl between her battle hardened body and cushioned seat.

"Shiny! Tell me when!" He could hear the eagerness in his aunt's words.

One more deep breath and the auto pilot was flipped off. Taking the yoke, he upped the power and suddenly accelerated through the deep black of the sky. With a precision that belied his youth, he brought Serenity careening toward the atmosphere of an abandoned Border planet.  He skimmed the boat through the clouds, watching for the mountain range that was coming up.

" _Gorramit_! He needs to slow down!" Came the furious whisper of a captain who thought his beloved freedom was about to go up in flames. Aunt River, with a swiftness that startled him still, slapped her hand over his mouth.

The mountain range flashed by and suddenly they were out over a large body of steaming water. He had brought the ship though the atmo at just the right angle that just a little rumble was felt through the body of Serenity. Checking the radar, he saw it was clear.

With a click of the mike,  he shouted to the engine room. "Now!"

In the bowels, the engine was swirling and whirling, dancing to his Aunt's desires. He felt the change in the yoke as he maneuvered the ship into the ever lovely Crazy Ivan, the pop of a engine changing course.

+++++++

When Captain Mal realized what was going on, he watched his small nephew, manipulate his beloved ship into the nearly impossible turns. It was like watching a ghost of Wash, his buddy, guiding his never seen son through the wind. _Like a leaf on the wind._ Wash's laughing voice seemed to echo through the crew.

He glanced at the warrior woman, his first mate in battle, Zoe, as she clutched the chair. Little Dia's big smile as her brother took the boat through the paces, nearly overshadowed the paleness of Zoe's face. A tear glimmered in her dark eyes, as a grim smile graced her lips. A mother's pride mixed with a lover's loss.

The twirls weren't as tight, and the shaking was a little rough, but Dino successfully brought Serenity through the defensive maneuvers of a Crazy Ivan. Something even River wasn't able to do with her extreme genius. But, Dino was Wash's son. He breathed Serenity's wind, much like Kaylee and probably little Bookie, felt Serenity's heartbeat.

Mal relaxed back against his seat. His crew was going to be okay. Serenity was going to keep flying. The crew had what was needed to live well. A doctor in training with little Dia to make sure the bleeding stopped. Bookie to make sure Serenity kept flying, and now funny Dino to keep her flying true.  Yeah, his family was going to be safe.

+++++++

Dino's whoop was echoed by River as he let Kaylee know that it worked. With a glance at his Uncle, Dino pointed the mismatched family's home back to the dark sky. With a trail of Firefly fire, the ship was expelled from the burnt out planet.

Because, this ship was meant to be in the black. As the family motto was, " _Burn the land, boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me!_ "

And love will keep it flying.


End file.
